Yet it could be done. It had been done. But the man
who did it did not know how he did it and could not do it again.
Professor Tilden in May, 1892, read a paper before the Birmingham
Philosophical Society in which he said:
I was surprised a few weeks ago at finding the contents of the
bottles containing isoprene from turpentine entirely changed in
appearance. In place of a limpid, colorless liquid the bottles
contained a dense syrup in which were floating several large
masses of a yellowish color. Upon examination this turned out
to be India rubber.
But neither Professor Tilden nor any one else could repeat this
accidental metamorphosis. It was tantalizing, for the world was willing
to pay $2,000,000,000 a year for rubber and the forests of the Amazon
and Congo were failing to meet the demand. A large share of these
millions would have gone to any chemist who could find out how to make
synthetic rubber and make it cheaply enough. With such a reward of fame
and fortune the competition among chemists was intense.
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